Various algorithms have been developed to help optimize supply chains within an enterprise to avoid overstock or undersupply conditions caused by mismatches in supply and demand forecasts. While several algorithms have been developed to address supply chain optimization within a single enterprise, none have addressed supply chain optimization between enterprises.
Conventional approaches to supply chain optimization typically assume that the enterprise can impose supply chain optimization rules on itself without regard to the interests of other enterprises. In the context of multi-enterprise trading where supply chain optimization rules must be negotiated, the typical approaches break down. In the context of multi-enterprise trading, therefore, supply/demand mismatches are common.